Mossy leaf-tailed gecko

It lives in wet forests on hills and mountains.

It stays on tree trunks and branches.

Mossy leaf-tailed geckos live in the humid forests of eastern and northeastern Madagascar, along much of the length of the island. Most live in hill and mountain forests at middle heights, usually more than 600 meters above the sea, and there is an apparently separate group on Montagne d'Ambre in the north.

They stay in the lower part of the forest, between one and five meters above the ground. They can live in forest that has been partly damaged, but not where the forest has been cut down.

The IUCN describes an endemic of humid forest in the east and throughout the northeast of Madagascar, with an apparently isolated population at Montagne d'Ambre, an extent of occurrence of 77,103 km² and records from 700 m to at least 1,200 m (plus one lower forest fragment at 379 to 435 m). Molecularly confirmed localities span 279 to 1,550 m, with sites below 600 m only in the southern clade and most others above 900 m (Gehring et al. 2023). It is active in the understorey at heights of one to five meters, tolerates some habitat degradation, but cannot survive in deforested areas and may be absent from heavily degraded forest (IUCN).

It eats insects.

It catches insects that climb up tree trunks.

Mossy leaf-tailed geckos catch insects. A National Geographic photo caption explains that when they rest, they face downward on tree trunks, which lets them catch insects that climb up from the ground.

Scientists still know little about how these geckos live in the wild. Most of what is known about the lives of leaf-tailed geckos comes from animals kept in human care.

Field data on its natural history, diet included, are scarce: Gehring et al. (2023) note that most natural-history information on Uroplatus comes from captive observations and that no long-term field study of any species has been carried out. A National Geographic photo caption (Chien C. Lee) describes resting geckos facing downward on tree trunks, partly to catch insects climbing up from the ground. Large-sized Uroplatus also have more teeth than any other squamate, and possibly any amniote (Bauer and Russell 1989, cited by Gehring et al. 2023).

It hides by looking just like the tree.

If something scares it, it opens its mouth wide and makes a loud call!

This gecko needs its camouflage, because its forest is full of sharp-eyed hunting birds. A National Geographic caption explains that a resting gecko faces downward, so that light shining off its eyes does not catch the attention of birds above.

When it is threatened, the gecko opens its jaws wide and gives a loud call. It can also push its eyes out a little, showing a bright yellow ring of skin around each eye.

Its camouflage is needed in a forest full of keen-eyed predatory birds: according to a National Geographic caption (Chien C. Lee), resting geckos face downward to avoid eye reflections that could alert predatory birds above. When threatened they open the jaws wide and give a loud call. Gehring et al. (2023) describe a bright yellow dermal ring around the eyeball that becomes visible when the geckos protrude their eyes during defensive behaviour, and an iris that is yellow to light gray or reddish by day but appears brown at night, when a network of fine veins shows.

People are cutting down its forest.

Some geckos are also caught and sold as pets.

The mossy leaf-tailed gecko is listed as least concern because it lives across a wide area and can cope with some damage to its forest. But it needs forest to survive, and Madagascar's eastern forests are being cleared for farming, burned, mined and logged.

Some are also caught and sold abroad as pets. Madagascar sets a limit on how many may be exported each year. The geckos live in several protected areas, such as Montagne d'Ambre.

Least Concern (Global; assessed 29 January 2011, published 2011; 'needs updating'; trend decreasing) on the basis of its 77,103 km² extent of occurrence and tolerance of moderate degradation, though it is confined to a highly threatened area and should be monitored. Threats are slash-and-burn agriculture, bush fire, mining and selective logging for charcoal, construction and export hardwoods. The IUCN records an export quota of 2,000 a year (including U. sameiti); Gehring et al. (2023) report 1,500 to 2,000 a year released for export in 2005 to 2019 and 1,391 exported from 2019 to October 2022, and warn that if the complex is split, the smaller units may qualify as threatened. Protected areas include Analamazaotra, Anjanaharibe-Sud, Manongarivo and Montagne d'Ambre.